NJ teens are invited to create a 30-90 second video with their unique interpretation of the 2018 Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) slogan for 2018 – Libraries Rock! Teens are encouraged by teen librarians to be a part of the summer reading process before and during the summer months by creating these videos that highlight summer reading in libraries. This is an opportunity for teens to display their creativity and have their ideas heard before a national audience.

Each CSLP member state, of which NJ is one, along with all other US states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, and the Mariana Islands, that chooses to participate in the 2018 Teen Video Challenge (TVC) will organize and implement their own competition to arrive at the winner. New Jersey’s statewide summer reading committee will judge the winning entry from any entries that are sent by NJ teens. The winning video from each participating state, island and territory will be named as one of the CSLP 2018 Teen Videos to promote summer reading nationwide and posted on its website.

The teen(s) who create the winning video will receive a cash prize of $100 (to be divided among the number of teens who create the video). Their public library will also receive a gift certificate for $50 from Upstart/Demco to purchase their incentives. The winners from each state will be announced by CSLP in April 2018.

The CSLP 2018 Teen Video Challenge (TVC) entry form for NJ can be found here as well as the model release form that should be included with the entry form or they are also on the CSLP website. Interested teens must go through their local public library’s teen librarian to submit their entry. Collaboration between teens in school and public libraries to create the video is encouraged, although the video must be submitted with the teen public librarian’s approval.

2019 Theme is Space and the Slogan is “A Universe of Stories“

2020 Theme is Fairy Tales/Mythology/Fantasy

Sponsorship

New Jersey is a member of the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP). All fifty states, including the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Mariana Islands, the Federated Islands of Micronesia, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands are members of CSLP. The CSLP website allows staff from all New Jersey public libraries to access the special features, online order form and other materials on the site, but to access them, you must register first. Any public library staff member is eligible to use the registration system to access the resources found on this members-only website.

The New Jersey Summer Reading Program, coordinated by the New Jersey Statewide Summer Reading Committee through the NJ Library Association, with funding from the New Jersey State Library, encourages everyone of all ages to read for fun during the summer. The NJ Summer Reading Program website maintains a directory of performers; programming ideas for children, teens and adults; information about discounts for summer reading prizes; registration information for summer reading workshops; and a survey link for statistics from your program. The website is restricted to NJ public librarians or staff and you must first register to access the website. However, there are resources under the Educators Tab that can be accessed without having to register to access the website.

Materials

Manual, Incentives, Clip Art, Reproducible Forms

All public libraries are given one password for their library building to share to access the online manuals for early literacy, children, teens and adults. All public libraries will only get online access to all of the manuals in 2018. They also receive an incentives catalog with an order form for summer reading materials from the Upstart/Demco, the contracted vendor for CSLP. Public libraries participating in the Summer Reading Program will receive a children’s banner, a children’s, teen, and adult poster and children’s, teen, and adult bookmarks for free courtesy of the NJ Summer Reading Program. These will be shipped to them directly from Upstart in the spring of 2018.

Clip art is available in color and black and white and included in the online manual. Clip art is also available in the manual in black and white for photocopying. There are also reproducible forms and handouts included on the online manual.

You can also create your own supplementary materials if you prefer and adapt the program to your community’s needs by using the materials, clip art, and digital art that come with the online manuals. There are rules for use of the artwork, so please respect these and general copyright laws.

Other Downloadable Materials

You can also find downloadable children’s signing videos, slogans in Spanish and PSAs for the summer reading programs on the Downloads page of the CSLP website.

Evaluation

If you participate in the summer reading program, the New Jersey Statewide Summer Reading Committee would like to have some feedback. A link to a survey will be posted on the NJ Summer Reading website by August 15th of each summer. Be sure that you keep statistics of the number of participants, programs offered and the attendance, and number of books read during the summer reading program so that you will be prepared to report back. This report will be due in October of each year.

Advocating for the Summer Reading Program

Promoting Your Program

To hear and download radio public service announcements for the current year’s summer reading programs for children and teens, visit the CSLP web page, where these are posted in the spring for easy downloading. (If your community doesn’t have a local radio station, perhaps your school would play them on the morning announcements).

Also available at this site are video spots and tips about how to use these announcements to promote your library’s programs. If you have a library website, you might want to run these on your web page. Other tips for publicizing your summer reading program for maximum participation are available in this years manual.